


A Life Caught In Song

by FeralCoffeeBug



Series: The Bells Haunt My Nightmares [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Cult, Cults, Enemies to Friends, F/F, Hollow and Ghost are mentioned!, Hollows name is Luma!, Lace and hornet like each other, Minor Character Death, Parent Death, Sharpe shows up for a moment, hornet going through pharloom, lace is so oblivious that she likes her, mention to seeing parents die, murder mention, they are just both oblivious, trauma mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29846907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralCoffeeBug/pseuds/FeralCoffeeBug
Summary: Lace flinched internally at this thought, she didn’t care that Hornet was okay, Hornet was the enemy. Hornet would die a painful death if Lace didn’t kill her first. She didn’t care....Right?(Please mind the tags)(Prequel to The Bells Ring In The Distance but you don’t need to read that to understand this)
Relationships: Hornet/Lace (Hollow Knight)
Series: The Bells Haunt My Nightmares [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2194311
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17





	A Life Caught In Song

**Author's Note:**

> So I’ve been working on this for a while! I started writing this just due to hearing a song that reminded me of Lace! Well here it is! I had a lot of fun writing this!

Lace was sitting with her hands resting on the edge of the building. The cathedral was not something she particularly liked, her prison that even if she could walk away from would still hold her captive. The memories of her childhood up to a few years prior would haunt her for the rest of her life.

A small white fly landed on her shoulder as she watched a few flies dance in front of her. Some dipped into the room behind Lace, however would fly back out soon after. They didn’t seem to enjoy this place very much, always hesitant to enter places the cult owned, and quick to try to leave. However they had all taken a strange liking to Lace. Some found a few moments of rest on the white clad bug before flying again, as if inviting Lace to dance with, to run away from this. 

Lace would not join them any time soon, she had no reason to. This was all she knew, this was all she could know. A happy mask slid perfectly in place of one that was afraid, that was scared of what could happen if she even tried to run. She saw what they did to spiders, she knew firsthand what would happen if she messed up too many times. She wouldn’t let that happen again if she could help it.

She could feel her dulled claws ache in pain from digging into the stone of the ledge she had perched herself atop of. A soft hiss came from her as she loosened her grip, she didn’t realize that she had started while caught up in her contemplation. She heard footsteps behind her, almost silent as it walked, the drag of wings being lowered. Ah it was  _ him. _

She didn’t bother turning around, instead crossing her legs as she looked skyward. Her eyes slid close until she heard the footsteps stop a few paces away from her spot. The silence remained for a few beats of silence, before Lace spoke up.

“What do you want?” Her voice was quiet, cold. She didn’t want to talk to the moth any longer than needed, everyone knew it. Everyone including the moth that was on the floor a few dozen feet down. This fact did not stop him from leaving her  _ alone. _

“What did I do to deserve this?” The tone was joking and Lace closed her eyes tighter against the tears that threatened to escape. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry again, he wouldn’t get the satisfaction of getting her angry. She knew he said it to get a rise out of her like all the times before.

“Hm, no response. Okay whatever. Anyways I was sent up here to tell you the higher ups wanted to see you, a spider escaped, but not just any spider,  _ a special one~ _ .” The last part was said in a sing song voice, catching her attention like movement caught a cat’s.

This made Lace whip around, looking at the white moth in surprise. Since when did a spider escape? Why weren’t they just killed? What was so important that they’d need her?

“They want you to capture it.”

A soft exhale came from Lace,” _ Fuck.” _

A few days passed, Lace had to get ready. She, of course, was always ready to fight, to protect herself. However she needed to be mentally prepared for what was to come. She didn’t know what to expect from this, and something was telling her that this would be different. She wouldn’t know just how right she was about that.

Lace wouldn’t say no to the higher order here. She didn’t own her life here, she never had. She always knew this, ever since the blood was splayed on her pure white fluff of her tiny little hands, a bug grabbing her as she was too numb to ever cry out to the lifeless moths on the floor. She would do as they asked, it was better than before, what they made her do,  _ what they did to her _ . She didn’t remember it all and she knew it was probably better that way. She would take this, because then maybe she could help the spiders then let them go through what they had to in this cult, she was safer this way too. She knew that death was better than  _ Them, she knew that death would be better than dealing with what they wanted for herself. _

She almost didn’t hear the spider that she was waiting for enter the room, too busy lost in her thoughts. She was watching the small white flies flutter about, the only thing that gave her comfort, always there for her. It was something that couldn’t be taken from her, they always came back. She was harshly snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a click and a door slamming shut, the tripwire was snagged and there was no way out unless she let her out. The flies scattered about from the noise of the door closing and the pin fencer looked back to her enemy briefly. A red cloak and a white mask that seemed to almost be a face more so than a mask. This was the spider? Interesting. She didn’t think she had ever seen a spider like this before.

She would look to the gold pin, it glinted in the warm orange light of the lava beneath this platform. She took in a soft breath and let it out, calming herself. She would need to get the upperhand to make sure she would win. The footfalls came to a stop a few feet behind her, yet she didn’t turn just yet. A Cheshire grin spread on her lips before she casted a glance backwards, she forced her tone to be pitying and at a higher tone than she talked normally,”How sad. A little spider has fallen from its cage.” She was acutely aware that the spider was indeed taller than herself, that meant nothing. It would mean nothing once the spider was dead.

“So lost…” she brought her pin down into her palm as she turned around finally, running her gloves hand across the surface of the thin blade,”So weak~ Poor little morsel.” She didn’t lose the grin, and she didn’t stop the way her tone dipped at the end. She was already finding this oh so amusing.

She saw the mask's eyes narrow at her words and her idea that the mask was the face of this spider was proven. She was once again reminded about the fact that this spider was very odd indeed.

She would continue nonetheless, better to get it all out before the spider decided to speak. “I can save you little spider, all of the trouble and pain you would face above. All of the suffering…” she trailed off for a moment before bringing herself back to the present. She mentally shrugged off the memories that brought, she couldn’t get caught up now in the fear and helplessness while spider hunting. It would make everything that much harder, she couldn’t  _ have _ that.

Her gaze focused on the other, she could see the spider shifting, getting ready to say something. Lace would have to finish before the spider interrupted or attacked. She would have to try and stun them with something.

She took a step forward and raised her pin to lightly tap against the white mask, right between the eyes, “I’ll just skewer you here and now, pluck that flickering life right out of you.” She grinned and let her head tilt to the side in a playfully dangerous manner.

What the white clad bug didn’t expect was the silver needle to come up and clash against her own. Lace wretched her hand away with the pin and jumped back to the edge as she caught the spider's next words, “Your threats are worthless.” 

Lace could say the tables had been turned on her, she blinked dumbly for a few moments before a grin slowly formed over her lips as the spider continued.

“If you are my foe, cease this prattle and raise your blade.” The red cloaked spider lifted her hand that held the needle, her eyes seemed to narrow even more. Lace decided she was going to want to learn this bugs name.

“Delicious~” The grin was wide now as she raised her own pin, her balance set accordingly for the oncoming battle,”I like you already!~”

Little did both bugs know that this battle would be one that marked an important change in both of their lives.

Blades sung in the air, Lace found herself amazing at how the spider was falling right in step with herself. The red cloaked bug always seemed to know exactly what she was doing, she seemed to be just a half step behind. It didn’t stay that way for long, and eventually Lace held her side as harsh breaths came from her. Her side screamed at her in pain.

The red cloaked bug seems to hesitate as Lace seemed close to collapsing. The white bug didn’t understand why, she could just kill her. She coughed harshly into her sleeve as she watched the spider move past her. “Wait.” She hissed out as she leaned down to grab her golden pin. 

The spider turned around to look at Lace, she was at the doorway already. Lace took a step forward,”Wait. Just a m...moment.” She held her side with her free hand,”If you’re going to just leave and spare my life then the least you can do is spare your name.” She narrowed her eyes at the spider.   
  


Like a whisper in the wind, a quiet voice that seemed to look upon the moth with a distrust in her eyes, “Hornet.” 

And she was gone, and Lace collapsed to the floor.

It would be a few moments before Lace would wake back up, holding her head in the palm of one hand and looking around. Neither helped the headache she was attempting to nurse away. She soon reached a hand into her pocket to pull out a bit of silk, beginning to wrap her cuts and injuries so they could heal. 

This went on for a few moments before an annoying voice graced her ears, or well annoyed her. She could think that the steel assassin might not have an annoying vice and instead he was just  _ annoying. _

“Aye what are you doing on the floor?!” 

Lace grumbled as she finished wrapping her wounds. She stood up and turned around, a gleeful expression on her face, “Why do you ask Sharpe? Did you know you have a job to do and that job is to capture the spider that came running through here? Or is it that you are unable to alone?” She smiled, tilting her head to the side condescendingly. 

Sharpe attempted to sputter and stutter out a response but instead just growled out and ran out the other door, where the spider had left. 

Lace let out a sigh and looked to the floor, then to her hand which she clenched then relaxed a few times. Why did she get the spider's name? Why did she feel like the spider could actually avoid the fate that the cult had for her? 

Why was she jealous of her?

“Hornet...I will show you how foolish you really are.” She whispered to the empty air as a white fly fluttered down to rest on her shoulder.

She soon trudged out of the room after Hornet and the steel assassin.

There were a few days where Lace had lost track of the spider, and she feared she completely lost her. She didn’t know why but she hoped that the spider had not been killed. Eventually she had caught sight of her in a town. 

Lace was just getting some food and paste to help with healing when she would need it. She was making small talk with the shop owner as she waited for the paste. It didn’t take long before the bag was set in her palm and she would turn on her heel and walk back out.

She stretched as the soft sun soaked into her clothes and onto her fluff. It was a cold day in the area she found herself in. The snow crunched under her shoes as she began to walk back out of the town when she heard a familiar voice.

Lace felt her fur stand on edge as she hid behind a pillar of a home, peeking out. She held her breath for a long moment, letting it out when she caught a glimpse of red and white. It was Hornet, Hornet was okay.

Lace flinched internally at this thought, she didn’t care that Hornet was okay, Hornet was the enemy. Hornet would die a painful death if Lace didn’t kill her first. She didn’t care.

...Right?

Lace shook off this thought as she looked back to where the hybrid spider was just a moment ago, only to be met with the spider nowhere to be found.

Lace quietly cursed to herself for being so foolish, how could she have gotten so caught up in her thoughts that she lost sight of the spider. 

She slunk away to quickly pick up what she came for, and to leave. There was one flaw with this plan of hers however…

She forgot what she was here for.

This time Lace cursed aloud and accepted she was just having a bad day.

Lace would watch the spider, worry growing that the spider would be unable to fight the higher-ups of the cult. She would intercept one last time… Not to stop her, no not this time…

The base floor of the cathedral was silent, it was only one white clad bug with the soft glowing flies fluttering about. She would shrug them off to get them to leave. The white that decorated the floor wasn’t any sort of silk, it was cotton. A material used to spread out the use of silk as it was difficult to keep up with the supply of silk so often.

It was soft, the cage to Lace’s left had been broken from being pushed off, it shattered on impact all that time ago. It was the reason all this cotton was down here, it was why she found this place to be soothing. This was done on purpose, even if the worker who did it wouldn’t admit to it. 

It showed there was some resistance left in this cursed land, it showed that the little spider wasn’t so alone. Lace took a soft breath as she leaned forward, putting more weight on the pin that she always had at her side, something that she knew insured her safety as long as she had it.

Something she was going to give up.

She knew that she would be unable to bring Hornet’s life to an end, she hoped that she could remove attention from the hybrid, enough to let her get out with her life. She needed to see the spider one last time, no matter how much it hurt to know this would be the last time she’d see her.

She remembered the last few battles the two had, blades clashing in a twisted dance with neither willing to take the final step to kill the other. Never wanting to extinguish the light behind those eyes, never wanting to crush the hopes backed by determination Lace had not seen in a very long time.

Determination Lace envied.

Lace found herself caught up in her thoughts more often than not, she didn’t really know how to feel about that. Most of them revolved around Hornet. The name she had learned the first time they had seen each other, stuck on her mind and at the tip of her tongue.

She would turn on her heel as she tapped her pin against her gloved palm, looking directly at the spider that had attempted to get a jump on her, “Little spider, are you still planning on getting to the top?” She was singing her words slightly, letting out her anxieties in the one way she could.

Hornet seemed to be caught off guard, backstepping a few feet away, “If you are here to stop me you should just give up now.” The spider hissed out. This earned a soft sigh as Lace looked away from Hornet.

“No...no I am not here to stop you. In fact I am here to give you a warning. And an offer.”

“If it's to kill me I am going to have to regretfully decline.”

“I already said I wasn’t going to kill you,” Lace hissed back

Hornet brought up her needle in a defensive pose, “You said stop, not kill.”

“Same difference.” Lace remarked before looking back to the spider. She put up her hands and waved them in a ‘no no’ motion, “I don’t want to fight Hornet!” She called out as she stepped back, “I just want to talk!” 

Hornet slowly lowered her weapon, and Lace let out a soft sigh of relief.

“I will be able to buy you time, you have a chance to get out of here. I believe you do.” Lace breathed out, not meeting the spider’s eyes. She knew that the other would be surprised at her words, and she could feel a wetness beading in her own eyes.

A silence settled in the air, a few moments passed before Hornet let out a soft, “...what?”

“I’m going to buy you some time. You...You have a life to get back to. You have siblings right? That are waiting for you?” Lace asked softly.

“I do…” Hornet stepped over to Lace, stopping by her, looking at the other. She reached out slightly before pulling back,”I…”

Lace looked at her hands, before letting out a breath,”What is it like? Having a family like that?” Lace wanted to know, to have the fact that Hornet was truly being awaited back where she came from.

“I...I have two siblings that live with me… Luna and my younger sibling Ghost. They...They are probably worried sick for me.” She said as she looked down at her hands.   
  
Lace smiled bittersweetly, gritting her teeth. She relaxed her jaw slightly as Hornet continued, “Luna is..was still healing and I hate that I left them and Ghost all alone with having to take care of them. I worry about them sometimes…” 

Lace smiled softly, stepping away just slightly. “I am...glad. That you have bugs waiting for you at home.” She stepped over to the exit,”Good luck Hornet… Go home to them… They both need you.”

And with that, Lace stepped through the door. Many, many days would pass before the two girls would see each other again.

And even longer for Hornet to show Lace that she was worth fighting for.

**Author's Note:**

> If you didn’t notice the tags!  
> Luna=The Hollow Knight!


End file.
